Cape Town to Stage First Stopover on 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race

Cape Town will host the first stopover on the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 route and will replace Recife in Brazil.

The decision to go to South Africa for the tenth time in 12 editions means the teams will only make one stop in Brazil, buy with Recife’s place being connected with a team from Pernambuco.

Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad said: “It is of course disappointing not to go to Recife in this edition but Brazil is very well represented in this race including a stop in Itajaí.”

Cape Town has significant history with the race and first appeared in the 1973-74 edition of the race, allergist which was the inaugural race known as the Whitbread.

Frostad added: “Cape Town is an iconic city and the sight of Table Mountain on the horizon as you approach the port at the end of Leg 1 is something every ocean racer looks forward to.”

Councillor Grant Pascoe, ampoule the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events & Marketing, said he was delighted the City of Cape Town and the V & A Waterfront would host the event once more.

“Not only does this race offer worldwide marketing exposure for Cape Town and raise the City and V & A Waterfront’s profile as a top leisure and events destination, it also provides a valuable boost for the many local industries through visitor and organiser spend,” he said.

Organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race did confirm that Recife would be considered for future editions and had ‘the potential to be a good stopover’ in later races.